We’re at a point in time where gaming is becoming closer and closer to reality every day. VR is on the horizon, the PS4 ½ is almost upon us, and every new game boasts top of the line graphics and hyper realism. Why then, am I still happy playing the PS4’s predecessors’ predecessor?

I’ve never been too keen on staying with the pack, I haven’t hopped onto many bandwagons and I haven’t been broken under the constant pressure of my peers to save up and buy into the current generation of game consoles. I take a backseat; watch them from afar with my wired Dualshock 2 clutched in my hands and the power of the PlayStation 2 at my disposal.

Durability

I’ve had my console for well over a decade and it still works just as well as the day we met. Never have I had an issue with it and never has it ever needed any maintenance. This console is a tank, an indestructible beast that I constantly crave and speaks to me through the voices in my head. In the time I have owned my PS2 I have had many yellow lights of doom and red rings of death. My PlayStation is simple, a no frills kinda guy, and having no frills means a hell of a lot less can go wrong with it. The console was first released in 2000, and is currently the best-selling home console of all time. For reference the PS3 only sold 80 million units, whereas the PS2 sold over 155 million.

Library

One of the greatest features of the PS2 is that it’s heralded by a library of nearly 4,000 individual game titles. I am still to get around to playing some of the games I own, never mind the thousands that I don’t. With releases shared over 13 years, content is never scarce. If you like FPS games, RPGs, Arcade Racers or anything in between, they’ll be at least a few hundred games you can really sink your teeth into. The PS2 was also home to the start of many franchises, including the likes of ‘God of War’ and ‘Ratchet & Clank’.

Price

PS2 is in the perfect place to get into at the moment. It’s in limbo between being a recent console and a retro console. Games range from 20p to £20, and it’s incredibly bottom heavy. The console itself you can get your grubby fingers on for about £20. That’s a console cheaper than your average current gen season pass. When you consider the expensive games are well known titles such as ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ and ‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ it’s truly worth at least a smidgen of consideration.

Hidden Gems

Something I love about how cheap the games can be is that if i take a wrong turn it doesn’t put me £60 out of pocket. I can buy a seemingly shitty game that I’ve never heard of for 50p and love it. I’ve found so many great titles this way such as ‘Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance’, ‘The Warriors’ and ‘Cold Winter’. With such a huge library there are so many possibilities and I find out about more games every day.

Creativity

PS2 developers knew how to take risks, it didn’t always pay off, but it wasn’t about that. Games used to be a form of art and the PlayStation 2 was the ultimate canvas. Wacky ideas were the norm, and boy was it brilliant. Generic was used for games with out of this world game mechanics, because there were so many to choose from.

Couch Co-op

The PS2 was the king of couch co-op, and the last true console to be viable in the running for it. The consoles to follow had a huge emphasis on online play, and that just wasn’t the same as having three friends and a multi-tap all couped up in your childhood bedroom. There was a time where playing royal rumble mode on a WWF game meant every wrestler was a different player.

Nostalgia

There are games which leave lasting impressions on us. Some leave such a lasting impression that we wait for and purchase the HD remakes on newer consoles for extortionate prices compared to the original copies. These games obviously still have potential, or we wouldn’t be buying them when they are rereleased every console generation. It also has backwards compatibility to the PS1, which allows you to indulge in your nostalgic fantasies even further.

Storage

In the golden days, terabytes were almost unheard of, let alone built into home consoles. You effectively had an unlimited amount of memory space with a collection of 8MB memory cards, which all the game cases had a space for.

Death of the Online Network

As of Mar 31st 2016, all of the servers for PS2 Online are shut down. This doesn’t spell the end for it though, as many fan-made servers are already up and running for PS2 favourites such as MGS3 & Resident Evil.

Conclusion

‘The PS2 will never die. Now is the perfect time to invest in an old friend’.

Sam Marshall

Sam Marshall delves deeper into the darkest depths than any man who dared to tread before him. Some people enjoy a little mind-crushing torture. He is one of them.